DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v24i4.59

Keywords: Christia vespertilionis, Chemical profiling, FTIR, Antioxidant

Abstract

Christia vespertilionis (CV) (L. f.) Bakh. f. (Fabaceae), or known as 'Green Butterfly Wing,' is gaining popularity as a valuable, underutilized medicinal plant having antioxidant properties as well as being a new potential source of natural products. The main objectives of this study are to identify the chemical profile of leaf and stem extracts of Christia vespertilionis (CV) using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and to evaluate its antioxidant properties (i.e total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-pierylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging ability). The extraction of the plant was conducted using polar to non-polar solvents which are water, methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform and hexane. FTIR spectroscopy analysis of CV revealed the presence of functional group of -OH, C-H, C=O, C=C, C-O, and N-H that are mainly attributed to phenolics and flavonoids. The bioassays result of the leaf and stem extracts showed a significant quantity of phenolic compounds, ranging from 1.52 to 5.82 mg of GAE/g extract. Moreover, the leaves and stems also showed significant number of flavonoid compounds, ranging from 3.45 to 27.57 mg of QE/g extract. The DPPH radical scavenging activity for leaf and stem showed higher in water extract (72%) followed by chloroform (37%), methanol (36%), ethyl acetate (24%) and hexane (17%) extracts. The outcome of the study will provide the information on the chemical profile and antioxidant properties CV that can be used for potential applications on diverse medicinal and bioactive components attributes.